Executive resigns at Trump Media, Truth Social’s parent company

The chief operating officer of Truth Social’s parent company has resigned, and the company must hand over almost 800,000 shares to one of its investors as part of a court ruling, according to a regulatory filing.

Andrew Northwall, the former COO, resigned from Trump Media & Technology Group Corp late last month, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, adding that the company plans to “transition his duties internally”.

No further details were provided about the resignation. He joined the company in December 2021, according to his LinkedIn page.

The SEC filing also disclosed that a Delaware court ruled last month that 785,825 shares of Trump Media must be released to Arc Global Investments II. Both parties have been feuding over how many shares Arc was owed after Trump Media combined with Digital World Acquisition Corp. The court said that ARC and Trump Media have the option to file an appeal within 30 days after its final order.

Trump Media runs the social media platform Truth Social, which Trump created after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021. Based in Sarasota, Florida, the company has been losing money and struggling to raise revenue. It lost nearly $58.2m last year while generating only $4.1m in revenue, according to regulatory filings.

Shares of Trump Media have been considered a meme stock by some market experts, which is a nickname given to stocks that get caught up in buzz online and shoot way beyond what traditional analysis says they are worth. The stock has fluctuated for several months, with trading largely driven by individual investors who are typically considered less sophisticated than day traders.

Late last month Trump Media’s stock fell to its lowest level ever on the first trading day that its biggest shareholder, Donald Trump, was free to sell his stake in the company behind the Truth Social platform.

Trump Media, whose shares are commonly called TMTG, started trading publicly in March. When the company made its debut on the Nasdaq in March, the shares hit a high of $79.38.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology rose slightly to $16.20 before the market open on Friday.